Oh that sinking feeling after deleting a file that is your only good copy of a script. However, the second sinking feeling of knowing there is no recycler copy because the deletion happened via another machine over the network is even worse! I ended up using two products to attempt recovery – my paid for copy of Stellar Phoenix ($99) and the free and famous Recuva. Guess which one out performed in multiple was…

Stellar Phoenix had to scan the ENTIRE 320MB drive just to let me select a sub-folder. Then, as it has done to me once before, it went back to demo mode – meaning I would have to contact support. If this had been the system drive, every wasted moment would mean less chance of recovery. To top it off – it was only seeing 1 of the 2 files that were deleted.

Since the file was not on the system drive, I installed Recuva (http://recuva.com). I was able to pick the folder BEFORE it scanned the drive. On the initial scan it found nothing (yikes!). I answered Yes to the deep scan and within 15 minutes it had both files listed for recovery and I was able to get them back!

Just in case you're thinking "Great, I'll install that next time I lose a file" - keep in mind that you should have your recovery software installed BEFORE you accidentally delete a file because if you have to install the software on the same drive as the deleted file(s) - the installation process could overwrite the files you are looking to save. It is a good idea to install it now - don't miss the checkbox to eliminate the Yahoo toolbar!

You get what you paid for – sometimes it just happens to be from somewhere else for free!